In August 2026, at the L ü si Port Container Terminal, the last container of the Panamanian "New Striver" ship landed steadily. As the cable slowly retracted, the cargo ship loaded with 599 TEUs sounded its whistle and slowly departed towards the ports of Wrangel and Vladivostok in Russia. The start of this voyage is just another key piece of the joint construction of the the Belt and Road connectivity network in the northern wing of the Yangtze River Delta, and a new maritime channel directly to the Russian Far East market has been opened.

Channel weaving activates cross-border circulation vitality

This newly opened Russian Far East route has built a golden sea passage for foreign trade enterprises in Nantong and surrounding areas, providing direct access to the Russian Far East market and empowering the development of regional import and export trade in both directions.

Various high-quality raw materials from Russia can be transported directly to Lvsi through this route, accurately meeting the production material needs of the manufacturing industry in the hinterland and significantly reducing the cross-border transportation cycle of raw materials. At the same time, the route has completely transformed the cumbersome mode of land transportation and water transportation transfer in the past, realizing the direct loading and delivery of heavy containers for hinterland exports at home, further reducing the comprehensive cost of cross-border logistics for enterprises, and improving the convenience, timeliness, and market competitiveness of regional foreign trade goods going abroad. In the first half of 2026, the import and export volume of Nantong to the Russian Far East increased by 37.2% year on year. The landing of this new route is a direct epitome of the continuous deepening of China Russia cross-border logistics connectivity under the the Belt and Road framework.

Hub upgrade solidifies open support base

Since its opening in 2022, Jiangsu Hutong Container Terminal Co., Ltd. has maintained a good trend of being busy as soon as the port is opened. It has successively opened daily business routes of Hutong Express from Lvsi to Yangshan and Lvsi to Waigaoqiao, as well as multiple international container routes from Japan, the Middle East, etc. In the first half of 2026, the container throughput of the port area increased by 29.6% year-on-year, the highest growth rate in the same period since the port was opened.

In the next stage, Shanghai Stock Connect Company will deeply connect with surrounding sources of goods, promote the normalization and stable operation of the Russian Far East route, and continue to strengthen and weave the international shipping network. From the first voyage of the first Far East route to the subsequent intensive layout of more international routes, Lvsi starting port area is growing step by step into an important foreign trade hub in the north wing of the Yangtze River Delta, finding its own position in the joint construction of the the Belt and Road land and sea interconnection network, and continuously injecting a source of shipping momentum into the high-quality development of regional foreign trade.Editor/Cheng Liting